4SS: 09 Lost and Bound
by Ta1u1a
Summary: 9 of 22 in the 4th Sister Series, alternate season 4. Leo and other whitelighters have gone missing, and the Charmed Ones are the only ones who can save them.


Lost and Bound  
>Ninth episode in the Fourth Sister Series<p>

Music Credit: Don't Stop Dancing by Creed

* * *

><p>Price paced back and forth in the living room, and Phoebe and Cole continued to sit on the sofa, none of them having the guts to go confront Piper yet.<p>

"Okay, so let me try to summarize here," Price said as she paced. "Not only is Leo missing, but other whitelighters are missing. The Elders and the rest of the 'lighters don't have a clue what's going on. And on top of it all, Piper's pregnant."

"That about sums it up," Phoebe said.

"So, you knew she was pregnant?" Cole asked.

"She had some things to sort out before she told Leo, and she made me promise not to tell anyone till Leo knew," Phoebe explained, leaving out the portion that Piper had had to ease her fears that the child wasn't Leo's. Phoebe slowly stood, wincing at the pain from the healing cuts on her stomach and chest. "I'm going to talk to Piper. How about you two start brainstorming on the whitelighter situation."

Cole and Price headed up to the attic while Phoebe went to Piper and Leo's bedroom. She found Piper pacing, holding one of Leo's many flannel shirts in her hands. Phoebe leaned against the door and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Hey if you ever manage to call a premonition off of that you gotta teach me how to do it," she said with a smirk. Piper smiled a little and tossed the shirt onto the bed. "We'll find him Piper. We'll find all of them."

"But it's not very often when the Elders are clueless about what's going on," Piper commented.

"Hey, do you remember the Dragon warlock and the Genie?" Phoebe asked, walking into the room.

"How could I forget?" Piper said with a laugh.

"Well, the Elders didn't know where the Genie came from. The Elders didn't know about the Triad. Hell, the Elders didn't know Cole was Belthazor," Phoebe said. "I think the Elders are clueless a lot more often than you think."

"What I meant is that it's not often that the Elders are clueless about what's going on with their own people," Piper said. "They have their own special radar that keeps tabs on all their whitelighters. When they don't know where their whitelighters are, I get more worried than usual." She paused and looked down. "When they don't know where Leo is, I get worried."

They stood in silence for a while. Then Phoebe walked forward and took Piper's hand. "Come on. Let's go see if Price and Cole have anything yet."

* * *

><p>"Have we figured out where we are yet?" Val asked the group. They were standing on the beach of an island with the ocean in front of them and the jungle behind them.<p>

"You don't recognize it?" Mike asked, brushing a strand of his sandy-blonde hair away from his eyes.

"No," Val said. She kicked up some sand and looked out at the ocean.

"It really has been a long time since you went through training," Marsha commented. It was a valid statement. Val had died in the Civil War when rebel troops fired her father's plantation. She had been trying to get all her father's farmhands to safety when the ceiling collapsed on her.

"Val, this is one of the training islands. Insulas Ex Victus Regnum," Leo said.

"Leo, always loving the Latin," Kat commented. She was a rookie in the whitelighter business compared to the others. She had actually died younger than anyone, even the elders, had expected. When she was 16 she fell victim to a head-on collision with a drunk driver. "Couldn't you just say Islands Out of the Living Realm, like everyone else?"

"You forget, working for the Charmed Ones has turned Leo dramatic," Mike joked. Mike had probably died at the oldest age of any of them. He died of a heart attack at the age of 50. He took the whitelighter position, at first as a means of staying seemingly young for eternity. But the philanthropist in him pushed through and he began loving the work, helping others. "So, you learn anything from your charges Leo? Any idea why our powers aren't working like they're supposed to?"

"I'm not sure," he replied.

"Any theories?" Marsha asked. She was the lowest in rank after Kat. Marsha had been a firefighter and she had died only four months before Kat in September of 2000.

"Darklighters got access to the training islands," Leo suggested. "Who knows for sure. We don't know how many of us are even here."

"So, we're powerless, stuck on the training islands and we're not sure if the Elders did this or evil did this," Val summarized. "So why are we just standing around?"

"Now there's a woman after my own heart," Mike said. "A woman of action."

"Mike, you've been at this for thirty years," Val said. "Give up the flirting stuff."

"Never," he said with a smile.

"So, first things first," Kat said. "We should probably figure out if anyone else is on this island, and then try to smoke signal the other islands and see if anyone's over there."

"Two groups?" Marsha suggested. Everyone else shrugged their shoulders in basic agreement. "Me, Mike and Leo. And Kat and Val."

"Sounds like a plan," Val said. She grabbed Kat's hand and walked in one direction. The other three started walking in the other.

* * *

><p>The sisters and Cole were drawn out of their research when the doorbell rang. Price went to the window and looked down to see Puck pacing in front of the front door. 'He has unbelievable timing,' she said. She turned to the others who were waiting for a report.<p>

"Puck," she said simply as she crossed the attic. She hurried down and opened the door just as Puck was about to ring the bell again.

"Hi, Price," he said. "I hate to just drop in like this, but I was in the neighborhood and I thought maybe we could grab lunch."

"Oh God, I would love to, but we've got some…uh…stuff going on here, and I just, I shouldn't…"

"Price, go. Have a good time for a change," Piper said as she joined the two at the front door.

"But Piper, what about…?"

"The three of us can handle it for now," she replied. "Lunch is lunch. I have a feeling this is all going to take a while."

Price was hesitant to go. She could feel that Piper's easy-going façade was strained at the moment. It fooled Puck, but it wouldn't fool Price.

"Piper…"

"Don't make me force you into his car," Piper said in a fake playful manner. "Get out of here." Puck just smiled and giggled at the exchange, not knowing what was really going on. Price sighed, and Piper decided to compromise. "Look, I promise to call you if we figure it out. Please, go."

Price reluctantly went, knowing that she wouldn't out-stubborn Piper. The eldest Halliwell had grown up with two sisters, gaining plenty of experience in stubborn battles. But Price didn't have that experience.

"Okay," Price said. She turned to Puck and realized that he probably wasn't getting much in the way of self-esteem boosting during this whole conversation. "All right, so now that I've thoroughly made you feel unwanted, do you wanna go to lunch?"

Puck smiled. "I don't feel unwanted. I'm envious. I don't really have any family to be stubborn with."

"It's not as fun as it looks," Piper said with a smirk. "You two have a good time." Without another word she nudged Price out the door and shut it.

Price hesitated and finally tried her best to release her worry. She knew that Piper, Phoebe and Cole could handle it without her. She was just worried they wouldn't call her if they found something.

"So you've really gotten close to your sisters these past few months," Puck observed as he sipped his ice water.

"Yeah, circumstances have really helped us to bond," Price said.

"What circumstances?"

"Um, circumstances that I really can't share," Price said, realizing she was starting to paint herself into a corner.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's just some family obligations that we have," she said, side-stepping the truth. "I think I would probably betray some level of trust with them if I shared it with you…at least for now."

"So, what are you saying? That I might find out later?" Puck asked.

"Maybe," Price said with a coy smile. "If you stick around long enough."

"Sounds like something worth waiting for," Puck responded.

Price smiled back at him, knowing that he would probably change his opinion when he finally did find out.

* * *

><p>Leo's group found two more whitelighters, Steve and Liam, during their search of the island. Kat and Val found one, Keiko. They all met back on the south beach.<p>

"Do we think there's more on the other islands?" Liam asked, his voice thick with an Irish accent. Steve and Liam were twin brothers. They had been killed by a terrorist bomb in Belfast in the 60s. They both had chosen to become whitelighters without hesitation and without even knowing that they were both doing so.

"It's a possibility," Keiko said. She had been in the whitelighter business almost as long as Leo. She was one of the innocent lives taken when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. When she had first become a whitelighter she had been fairly tight-laced, as was typical of young Japanese women at the time. But over the years she had lightened up and adapted. She changed with the times. She ran her left hand through her shoulder-length jet black hair. "I wouldn't be surprised. But do we know whether or not this is a training mission?"

"I really doubt it," Steve said with an accent as thick as his brother's. "Probably a bloody darklighter."

"It could be anything, but the elders have to know we're gone," Marsha said. "They'll be working on finding us."

"How do we know the elders haven't been taken too?" Kat asked. "I mean, none of our charges really have a whole lot in common aside from the fact that they're all witches. I mean the Charmed Ones' whitelighter is here. I'm guiding teenagers who are new to the craft. It's pretty random."

"I doubt the elders have been taken," Val said. "They're too highly protected. But I have no doubts that there are 'lighters on the other islands. It's possible that all whitelighters have been sent to these islands."

"That would leave our charges without guides," Mike said.

"But those that actually know about whitelighters will become suspicious when we don't respond to their calls," Leo said. "I know mine will."

"So we've got the Charmed Ones looking for us," Keiko said. "That is reassuring."

Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement, and Leo realized that all of the whitelighters' hopes were resting on the sisters. He hoped they wouldn't be let down.

* * *

><p>"Well, look who's back," Phoebe said as Price entered the kitchen two hours after she had left the Manor. "Long lunch."<p>

"Yeah, we kinda lost track of time," she said. "I'm sorry. Did you find anything we can use?"

"Piper's come up with a potion and Phoebe's got a spell that might help you go to wherever the whitelighters are," Cole said.

"Might? I don't like doubt words," Price commented.

"Well, we aren't sure if it will really send us to the missing whitelighters or not," Phoebe said.

"There's also the fact that we have no idea where they are," Piper continued. "We could end up in the Source's lair. It could all be a trap."

"Which is why you're staying behind to recite the retrieval spell I wrote," Phoebe said, handing a slip of paper to Price.

"Wait a minute. Why do I have to stay behind? Why not one of you?" Price asked.

"There was no way I was going to stay behind, so we flipped a coin," Piper said.

"Heads, you stayed. Tails, Phoebe stayed," Cole said. "I promise you it was entirely fair. I flipped the coin and I don't want Phoebe to go."

Price sighed, disappointed that she had to wait behind. "So how does this work?"

"Well, the spell takes us to Leo, and hopefully he's with all the other whitelighters," Phoebe explained. "The potion actually goes with the retrieval spell. We drink the potion, and when you recite the retrieval spell it magically tracks the ingredients and brings us back."

"What if it just brings the potion back from inside you?" Price asked.

"It won't," Piper said confidently.

"The problem with this plan is that you guys are flying blind into the battlefield, and you don't even have a clue of what you're up against," Price said.

"That was my argument," Cole said.

"The priority here is to get the whitelighters back," Piper said. "We'll deal with what did this later."

"But what if it's a—"

"It's not a trap," Phoebe interrupted. "Don't ask us how we can be sure of that."

"You won't change their minds, Price," Cole said.

"How long should I wait before saying the retrieval spell?" Price asked.

"Twenty-four hours," Piper said. "If we're in the wrong place, we'll just have to wait. And if we're in the right place, we'll hopefully find them all before that time is up."

Phoebe and Piper saw that Price had no more questions and they put the small potion bottles in their pockets. Phoebe held up the slip of paper with the spell they had to read.

"Be careful," Price said.

"We will," Phoebe replied. Then the two began reciting the spell.

What is lost, we now must find  
>To help restore our peace of mind<br>Take us to our guide and friend  
>And what is wrong may magic mend<p>

Small white orbs swirled around Piper and Phoebe, and after a moment the two of them disappeared from the Halliwell Manor. Price looked at Cole, and both of them saw the same look of concern on the other's face.

"Okay, if this is a hell dimension I don't feel so bad about being bad," Phoebe said as she took a look at their surroundings.

"Why would we end up on a tropical island?" Piper asked.

"Well, either the spell didn't work right or Leo is somewhere on this island," Phoebe replied.

"Let's hope for door number two," Piper said. The two of them started walking down the beach, unaware that they were being watched.

* * *

><p>Oric watched from his perch as the two intruders appeared on the beach. He had not called for them. He was almost certain they were not whitelighters. Which left two options—evil or witch. From the looks of them his guess was witch. One of the whitelighters had some charges looking for them. And he had a good guess who they were—the only witches with enough power to break through his magic, the Charmed Ones.<p>

"I have to step up my plans," he muttered to himself. He chanted a few words in an archaic language and looked down. Two vicious beasts that vaguely resembled wolves appeared in a black mist. The beasts growled and sneered up at their master. He smiled, knowing how much he would delight in seeing the looks on the witches' faces when they realized their powers wouldn't work inside his barrier around the islands. "Kill the witches," he ordered. The beasts growled louder and then headed off toward Piper and Phoebe.

* * *

><p>"This feels wrong Cole," Price said as she paced back and forth in the parlor. "We shouldn't have let them go."<p>

"There was no letting involved," Cole said, reiterating something he had said to her several times. "They would have gone no matter what. It just better ensures they get back safely if we know what's going on."

Price was about to comment when bluish-white lights appeared next to her. Becca appeared and immediately began talking.

"Okay, I convinced the elders to allow you three to help us in our investigations so I don't have to sneak around anymore," she said. "Where are Piper and Phoebe?"

"They're trying to find Leo," Price replied.

"How?"

"Phoebe wrote a spell that would take them to wherever Leo is and hopefully to all the missing whitelighters," Cole explained.

"But they don't even know what they're up against. They don't know how powerful the demon that did this is."

"That was our argument," Price said. "The thing is, I can still feel their emotions through our connection. I find that weird considering that the elders can't sense any of the missing whitelighters. I would think that same kind of magical block would be true for us too."

"Hold on, let me see if I can sense them," Becca said. She closed her eyes and concentrated on Piper and Phoebe. Then she opened her eyes. "I'm getting nothing. That means that the connection you three have is stronger than whatever magic is blocking them from me."

"If I feel that they're in danger I'm going to help them," Price said.

"But what about the retrieval spell?" Cole asked. "Somebody has to be here to recite it, a witch."

"I think I can take care of that," Price said. She picked up the phone and dialed the only other witch she knew.

* * *

><p>"Leo!" Piper shouted. They had been walking along the beach for over an hour, and they had found no one yet.<p>

"Do you think he's further inland?" Phoebe asked.

"Maybe. Who knows?" Piper said. Then she spotted something…no someone, several someones. "Phoebe."

Phoebe followed Piper's gaze and saw the group that was gathered around the large fire. They were sending smoke signals. To whom, the two weren't sure, but they had a good feeling they knew who all these people were. They started jogging along the beach, headed for the group.

They were about twenty feet away when Piper shouted Leo's name again. The entire group turned and watched as moments after Piper called out, two large beasts jumped from the brush nearby and tackled Piper and Phoebe. Leo, Mike, and Steve started running to help. Liam grabbed two burning pieces of wood from the fire to use to fend off the beasts.

Phoebe was pinned to the ground on her back by the beast attacking her. She managed to pull her knees to her chest and push outward against the beast's chest, throwing it off of her. She quickly got up as the beast came at her again.

Piper tried numerous times to blow up or freeze the beast, but it had her arms almost pinned down and she had to fend it off from biting her neck. Moments later the beast flew off of her as Liam hit it with one of the flaming pieces of wood. The beast howled and ran off into the woods. Leo came rushing to Piper's side. Steve and Mike helped Phoebe run off the other beast with the other piece of burning wood.

Finally, both beasts were gone. Piper was still in a little bit of shock. Leo knelt next to her, looking very concerned.

"Honey, are you all right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so," she said. Leo helped her up and they both surveyed her for any wounds. "Just some scratches. Not too bad."

"Piper, you all right?" Phoebe asked as she and the other two guys approached.

"Yeah. You?"

"A couple scratches," she said. "Although, I have this bad feeling that when that thing tackled me it might have torn some of my stitches out."

"Stitches?" Leo asked. "What happened?"

"We encountered some ogres that were stealing and sacrificing witch familiars," Phoebe replied. "But I think we need to focus on more important things. Like where the hell are we?"

"These are the whitelighter training islands," Liam replied. "It's a pleasure to meet the Charmed Ones. Now how about we all get back to the others and we can check out those stitches you were talking about."

Phoebe nodded her head and the six of them headed toward the fire. Phoebe sat down and pulled her shirt up enough to reveal her bandaged abdomen. Leo began to peel back the bandages. He looked at her healing wounds for a moment and then bandaged them up again.

"They're okay," he said. Phoebe lowered her shirt and stood with Leo. "So what are you two doing here? And how did you get here?"

"We said a spell that would take us to you," Piper said. "Becca came to us and explained that whitelighters were missing and since we couldn't get a hold of you, we knew you were one of the ones missing."

"Nobody knew where you guys were, not the elders, the other whitelighters or your charges," Phoebe continued.

"So not all the whitelighters are here," Val said. "Did they say how many are missing?"

"No, we didn't get that information," Phoebe said.

"The elders are trying to keep people from panicking by keeping this situation a secret. Becca wasn't even supposed to tell us about this," Piper said.

"So do you two have a way to get us all out of here?" Marsha asked.

"Well, our powers aren't working," Piper said. "I couldn't freeze those things that attacked us."

"I couldn't levitate either," Phoebe said. "Hopefully the retrieval spell will still work."

"Retrieval spell?" Kat asked.

"Our sister Price stayed behind to say a retrieval spell," Piper said. She pulled a bottle out of her jacket pocket. "If we drink this potion the spell will lock onto it and bring us back."

"But how will she know if you've found us?" Steve asked.

"We told her to give us 24-hours," Piper continued. "So that's how long we have to figure out if there's anymore whitelighters here, and hopefully to figure out who's behind this."

* * *

><p>Oric was disappointed in his beasts. They had failed at killing the two Charmed Ones, but it didn't mean they wouldn't try again. He would send them out again, when the two witches were alone.<p>

He had eaves dropped on the conversation between the witches and whitelighters. He heard what Piper had said about Price. He knew he had to keep the last Charmed One from spoiling his plans. It would take him at least 36-hours to gain enough power to call for the remaining whitelighters and still keep his energy field around the islands. Now how he would go about keeping them from leaving depended on how successful his beasts were in attacking Piper and Phoebe.

* * *

><p>Price introduced Leena to Becca and then she gave her the low-down on the situation.<p>

"You know, it's been a while since I've heard from Val," Leena said. "I didn't really think anything of it. There were times when she was gone for months at a time."

"Val is one of the missing 'lighters," Becca said. "Along with fifty others."

"Piper and Phoebe didn't take enough of the potion to bring that many people back," Price said. "We have to find another way to bring all of them back."

"Like what?" Cole asked.

"I'm not sure," Price said. "Leena, this is where you come in. I'm going to use the spell to track Leo. Give me two hours and then you'll call me back."

"Isn't that kind of reckless? You still don't know if the retrieval spell will actually work," Becca said.

"I know that, but Phoebe and Piper need to know that they're not prepared for the number of 'lighters they have to bring back," Price said. "And all three of us need to put our heads together to figure out a different way of doing this. Our priority is getting the missing 'lighters back. Then we'll figure out who this demon is."

"I suppose I don't have to remind you that you're flying blind here," Becca said. "You didn't used to be this reckless."

"I didn't used to be a Charmed One," Price said. "Working with a team has advantages and disadvantages. One of the disadvantages being that sometimes we have to bail each other out of bad situations without knowing what we're getting into."

Becca said nothing. She knew plenty from the past three years of Leo guiding the Charmed Ones, one thing being that the Charmed Ones had a tendency to be impulsive and that they didn't plan as much as typical guidelines required. But she also knew that the Charmed Ones and even Price had been attacked by more demons in the past three years than typical witches were attacked their whole lives. Prue was the first casualty, and Becca knew there was nothing else that could have been done to prevent that.

"I guess all I can say is be careful," Becca said.

"And good luck," Cole added.

Price nodded her head and handed Leena the slip of paper with the retrieval spell written on it. "Two hours." Leena nodded her head in understanding. Price took a small bottle of the potion and took a deep breath. Then she said the spell to send her to Leo, disappearing in glowing orbs.

* * *

><p>Night was falling on the islands. The group had found that the island to the northeast and the island to the north both had whitelighters on them. They weren't sure how many. All they could see was signal fires similar to their own. All they could do was wait and think about how they could get to the other 'lighters.<p>

"Build a raft?" Kat suggested.

"The islands are too far," Mike said.

"Maybe for you, old man," Kat said sharply.

"Now wait a minute…" Mike began.

"Hold up," Marsha said, holding a hand up. "Let's not get into an argument here."

"I was just joking," Kat said. "Geez, Mike, can't you catch sarcasm?"

"You know, I was a whitelighter before your mother was a glint in her parents' eye," Mike shot.

"And you've proved my point," Kat said. She stood and walked away from the fire toward the shoreline.

"Don't let her get to you, Mike," Marsha said. "She's getting restless. We all are."

"Tensions are high," Leo said. "We all just need to calm down and think sensibly."

"Spells should still work for us," Phoebe said. "Just because our powers don't work doesn't mean we can't cast spells. We can write a translocation spell to send us to the other islands."

"But we don't have enough potion for everyone," Piper said. "We'll have to make more somehow."

"Can't you just use that translocation spell to send all of us out of here?" Liam asked.

"It'll only work for us because we're witches and because we're saying it," Phoebe said.

"What we'll have to do is wait for Price to use the retrieval spell to bring us back home," Piper said. "Then we'll make more potion and come back for everyone."

"Meanwhile, who could do this?" Phoebe asked the group. "Who has the power?"

Before anyone could answer they were distracted by glowing orbs that quickly turned into Price. Piper and Phoebe stood, surprised by her presence.

"What are you doing here?" Phoebe asked, slightly annoyed that Price had done this. "Who's going to say the retrieval spell?"

"Chill. Your anger's giving me a migraine," Price said. "And cool the panic jets because Leena is at the Manor with Cole and Becca. She'll say the retrieval spell for me in two hours."

"So, why are you here?" Piper asked more calmly than Phoebe had.

"To give you some information. The elders are letting Becca work with us now so we know a little more. There's fifty-one missing whitelighters, which means we don't have enough potion to bring everyone back."

"Yeah, we know that much," Phoebe said. "There's other islands in this chain. We're the only ones on this one."

"How many islands are we talking about?" Price asked.

"Five. There are eight 'lighters here, plus you three. We caught groups on the northeast and north islands," Steve said pointing out toward the islands that had fires burning on their beaches. "We were going to check the southwest and west islands at first light."

"We can step up our time table now," Val said. "We can work on checking the other two islands in the dark. You three need to go back and make more of that potion."

"One of us should stay here," Price said. She turned to Piper and Phoebe. "The connection works through whatever is blocking everything else on the island. If one of us is here and there's trouble, the others will know."

"I'll stay," Piper said without hesitation. Part of it was being able to know exactly where Leo was. The other part was her oldest sister obligation. Her duty.

"You made the potion," Phoebe said. "I know I was there, but I'm not entirely sure what was in it."

"And I wasn't there," Price said. "You need to go back Piper. I'll stay."

"Actually, I think it would be a good idea if Phoebe and Price both stay," Leo said. Piper looked confused. "They can work on that translocation spell and then go to the other islands to explain what's going on. It would save time."

"Okay, well Leena's not saying the retrieval spell for two hours," Piper said. She took out her bottle of potion and drank it, grimacing at the taste. "So Phoebe, you're our spell writer. You work on that. The rest of us will work on signal fires for the remaining two islands."

The group split up. Liam offered to stay behind with Phoebe, just in case there was trouble. The rest of them headed for the other side of the island to work on signal fires.

* * *

><p>Oric saw the group dissipating and knew that his opportunity to take out the Charmed Ones was about to present itself. He looked toward his beasts. They had been wounded, but they certainly were not unable to take care of their targets. He would wait, give them a little more time to recuperate. Then he would send them.<p>

* * *

><p>Phoebe sat by the fire writing with a stick in the sand. She just couldn't come up with anything that sounded right. She would "erase" her work with her feet repeatedly. Liam could tell she was getting frustrated. He sat down next her.<p>

"Hey, love, you need to take a deep breath and focus a bit," he said. "You aren't going to get your head to work any better if you get all tense like you are."

Phoebe nodded her head and ran her hand through her hair. He was right. She was losing her concentration. "So you're from Ireland," she said.

"Yeah," he replied. "Me and Steve."

"I noticed the twin thing you two have going on," Phoebe said. "It's kinda funny. Price and I are fraternal twins."

"Well, a common bond already," he said with a smile. His smile faded when suddenly one of the beasts from before leapt at Phoebe, knocking her over into him. They both fell, Liam narrowly escaping catching his shirt on fire. Phoebe rolled across the sand, struggling with the beast. Liam grabbed a burning piece of wood from the fire and swung it at the beast, hitting it in the back. It howled and then turned at him. It tackled him to the ground and went for his neck. Phoebe regrouped, trying to ignore the pain from her already existing wounds. Then she stood and threw a roundhouse kick at the beast. It flew away from Liam and landed right where she had wanted it to land, in the fire. It howled and ran about the beach as it burned. Finally it stopped howling and fell dead to the ground.

Phoebe turned to Liam and her heart nearly broke at what she saw. She hadn't acted quickly enough. The beast had tore into Liam's throat and within seconds the Irish whitelighter had bled to death.

* * *

><p>Price and Steve were lugging the last large log toward the signal fire when Price stopped. She felt fear, pain and sorrow all in a couple quick minutes. Steve was trying to get Price's attention, but she wasn't hearing him. She dropped her end of the log and turned, sprinting back to Phoebe.<p>

"Price! Price, where are you going?" Steve hollered after her. Val was nearby and Steve turned to her. "You all should keep working. I'll follow her." Then he took off after her.

* * *

><p>Leo and Piper were working on the fire when Leo noticed Piper had stopped.<p>

"Honey? What's wrong?" he asked. But she didn't respond.

"Phoebe," she said, almost too quiet for Leo to hear. Then she took off running. Leo told the others to keep working and chased after her.

They were half-way to Phoebe when Piper's legs suddenly felt weak and she fell to her knees. Leo caught up to her and knelt beside her.

"Piper? What's wrong?" he asked.

She looked at her watch. "Two hours. Dammit," she said. "Leena's saying the retrieval spell. Leo, you have to help Phoebe. She's in trouble." Piper's image faded before Leo. "Go!" she shouted. Then she disappeared completely. Leo didn't hesitate as he jumped up and continued running.

"Phoebe!" Price shouted as she emerged from the trees. Steve was right behind her. Leo jumped out of the brush a few feet to their left and the three of them ran together down the beach toward what was left of their fire. "Phoebe!" Price shouted again.

She could see a charred figure not far from the fire and she couldn't tell yet who it was. But as she, Steve and Leo came closer she could see that the figure wasn't human. Then she saw Phoebe sitting next to Liam. She came closer and saw all the blood, and she saw the tears running down Phoebe's face.

"Liam!" Steve shouted. He didn't even go around. He just jumped through the fire and landed next to his fallen brother. He was taken aback by all the blood. He couldn't lose his brother and he momentarily forgot that he had no powers in this place. He held his hands over his brother and tried to heal him. It wouldn't work. "Leo, help me. Maybe together we can make it work."

"Steve, we don't have powers," Leo said quietly. "Even if we did, we can't heal the dead."

Steve shook his head and stood. He paced back and forth shaking his head. His hands were balled in fists.

"Steve," Price said. She had her arm around Phoebe, trying to calm her down. Steve let go then. He screamed as loud as he could manage and then grabbed a log from the fire. He went over to the already dead beast and started beating it with the flaming log.

"Bloody, soddin' piece of…aaaargh!" he shouted at it as he beat it repeatedly. Phoebe pulled away from Price and went over to Steve. She carefully reached out to him. He stopped beating the beast, dropped the log and fell to his knees. Phoebe took him in her arms and held him while he cried for his brother.

Price looked sadly at Liam and then at Leo. She could see not only sorrow in Leo's eyes, but concern. "Leo? How did you know to come here?"

"Piper," he said. "She would've been here, but Leena said the retrieval spell." He didn't look up at all when he spoke. Then he said something quietly that Price didn't hear.

"What was that? I didn't hear you?"

"We're not immortal here," he said. He looked up at her. "Whatever did this didn't just take away our powers. It made us mortal, too. Every whitelighter in existence could be killed in one night."

* * *

><p>"Try it again, Leena," Becca said. She could see the figure fading in and out, but it wasn't there yet. Leena said the retrieval spell again. Finally, Piper fully materialized in front of the three of them.<p>

"Piper? We were expecting Price," Cole said. Piper said nothing. She just sat on the floor with her eyes closed. "Piper is something wrong?"

She held up her hand and shushed him. She was concentrating on Phoebe and Price, trying to determine what was going on. She felt sadness from Phoebe and sympathy from Price. No pain. She decided that meant her sisters weren't hurt. She had no idea why Phoebe was upset, but she could at least concentrate on the potion knowing that she wasn't hurt. Piper stood and looked around to see three expectant sets of eyes.

"Price filled me in," Piper said. She turned to Becca. "All the missing whitelighters are on the training islands."

"How did evil get a hold of the islands?" Becca asked in surprise.

"I don't know, but I have to get to work on making enough of that retrieval potion for 52 people," Piper said. "Leena, give me a hand?"

"Sure," Leena said. They all followed Piper into the kitchen. "So, uh, Val's okay, right?"

"Val? Uh…" Piper said trying to remember which one was Val. "Oh, yeah, she's fine. Everyone's just a little disoriented because magical powers don't work there. Spells do, but the whitelighters can't heal or orb, and we can't use our powers."

"Our powers work at the training islands usually," Becca said. "There's definitely a pretty strong evil behind this."

"Well, it's a pretty strong evil that's gonna get its ass kicked by the Charmed Ones," Cole said confidently.

"That'll be later," Piper said. She started mixing the potion in a large pot on the stove in the center of the kitchen. She motioned to some pots on the stove behind her. "Leena, I'll need you to use that stove. If we're mass producing potion I'll need you to mix too. I'll tell you what to put in it."

* * *

><p>"I've got the translocation spell," Phoebe said. Leo had gone to tell the others what had happened to Liam, and they had all returned to that side of the island to have a small memorial for him. Then Keiko, Mike, Kat and Marsha returned to the other side of the island to signal the other islands.<p>

"You want north or northeast?" Price asked.

"I'll take north," Phoebe replied. She glanced over at Steve, who was sitting next to his brother's fresh grave. "Will one of you talk to him?"

"Yeah, we'll take care of him," Val replied. Phoebe and Price both recited the translocation spell to go to their respective islands and then disappeared from sight.

Leo and Val looked at each other and then approached Steve. They stood nearby, not sure what to say. He didn't look up when he spoke, simply stared at the grave.

"It's not like I expected us to live forever," he said. "But we died young. If we hadn't been killed by that car bomb we woulda been fifty-two last month. This shouldn't have happened."

"Steve, I know what you're going through is hard…"

"Do ya, love? I don't think so," Steve said.

"We've all lost loved ones," Leo said. He thought about Prue. "Charges. Friends. Family. It's rough. But it will get better."

"When?" Steve asked.

"In time," Val said. "You'll miss him like hell for a long time, but eventually you'll start to move on."

"I'd like to be alone for a while guys," he said.

"Okay, but I think Piper, Price and Phoebe will have us out of here soon," Leo said. "We'll get you when it's time to go."

Steve nodded his head and Val and Leo left him alone.

_At times life is wicked and I just can't see the light_  
><em>A silver lining sometimes isn't enough<em>  
><em>To make some wrongs seem right<em>  
><em>Whatever life brings<em>  
><em>I've been through everything<em>  
><em>And now I'm on my knees again<em>  
><em>But I know I must go on<em>  
><em>Although I hurt I must be strong<em>  
><em>Because inside I know that many feel this way<em>  
><em>Children don't stop dancing<em>  
><em>Believe you can fly<em>  
><em>Away…away<em>  
><em>At times life's unfair and you know it's plain to see<em>  
><em>Hey God I know I'm just a dot in this world<em>  
><em>Have you forgot about me?<em>  
><em>Whatever life brings<em>  
><em>I've been through everything<em>  
><em>And now I'm on my knees again<em>  
><em>But I know I must go on<em>  
><em>Although I hurt I must be strong<em>  
><em>Because inside I know that many feel this way<em>  
><em>Am I hiding in the darkness?<em>  
><em>Forget the pain and forget the sorrows<em>  
><em>But I know I must go on<em>  
><em>Although I hurt I must be strong<em>  
><em>Because inside I know that many feel this way<em>  
><em>Children don't stop dancing<em>  
><em>Believe you can fly<em>  
><em>Away…away<em>  
><em>Am I hiding in the shadows?<em>  
><em>Are we hiding in the shadows?<em>

Phoebe and Price had finished explaining the situation the whitelighters on the other four islands, and they were now back to waiting for Piper. They were worried that they didn't have much time before whatever demon did this made another attack.

But their worries were alleviated when Piper appeared in a swirl of white lights. She was holding a large pot and paper cups.

"All right, we're all set," Piper said as she carried the pot over to the group. "I told Leena to give us 20 minutes max. Do you have the translocation spell?"

"Yeah," Phoebe replied.

"First all of us," Piper said. She pulled out the cups and started passing the around. She filled the last cup before her own, but then she realized that everyone had already had some of the potion. "Wait, who's missing? I know I counted right before I left."

"Liam's dead," Kat said quietly.

"Wait, dead? But whitelighters don't die unless a darklighter's involved," Piper said, now even more concerned for her husband and his coworkers.

"The rules are different here under whatever magic is blocking our powers," Leo said. "It's made us all mortal as long as we're here."

"One of the beasts that attacked us when we got here attacked me and Liam," Phoebe said. "It ripped his throat out."

"Okay, we've explained it," Steve said in an agitated tone. "Could we get on with this bloody mess already?"

Piper hesitated, shooting a look to Phoebe. They both knew what Steve was going through, losing a sibling that he was so close to. "Okay," Piper said finally. "Are there 'lighters on every island?"

"We got lucky," Price said. She pointed out to the north and northeast islands. "Only those two."

"And there's only four on the north island," Phoebe said. She filled four cups with the potion and then picked them up. "I'll go there. You two go to the northeast island with the rest."

Moments later all three of them disappeared, courtesy of the translocation spell.

* * *

><p>Oric returned to the central island to find the beach deserted. He couldn't find anyone. He went to the other two islands that he had sent the whitelighters to and saw them empty as well. He growled in fury. The Charmed Ones had taken his victims. He felt little comfort in the fact that his beast had succeeded in killing one whitelighter. His plans were ruined. He knew now that he had to claim vengeance.<p>

* * *

><p>Everyone appeared in P3. Before she had returned to the islands, Piper realized that over 50 people appearing in the Manor at the same time might cause breakage so she sent Cole, Leena and Becca to P3 to accommodate.<p>

Most of the whitelighters left after thanking the sisters for saving them. The only ones who remained in were the sisters, Cole, Leo, Leena, Becca and Val. They all headed back to the Manor.

"So we never got a chance to brainstorm on the demon behind this," Phoebe said.

"Where exactly are these training islands?" Cole asked. Even though he no longer had the strength of a demon, he had the memories of one. He could think like whoever did this and determine what had happened.

"They're the Islands Outside of the Living Realm," Val said. "They're what mortals consider the mysterious Bermuda Triangle."

"The islands are just slightly out of phase with the rest of this plane of existence, and sometimes under certain circumstances they momentarily slip into phase with this plane," Becca explained. "The disappearances that occur in the Bermuda Triangle occur in those instances."

"Oric," Cole said, breaking through the explanation.

"Sorry, what?" Price asked.

"Oric," Cole repeated. "He had about the same level of power as I…Belthazor had. Maybe a little stronger. The problem was that nobody ever took him seriously. He was constantly ranting that he knew how to get to the whitelighters and weaken all witches. I remember once he mentioned something about the Bermuda Triangle."

"Book," Piper said. She stood and headed up to the attic with everyone else close behind. When they got there Piper and Phoebe realized it was probably the largest group of people they had ever allowed in the attic. Piper almost felt like they were becoming less protective of the Book of Shadows for some reason.

It didn't take long for them to find Oric in the Book of Shadows. He wasn't far behind Belthazor.

"His powers include the ability to harness energy," Piper read.

"Which means he probably created an energy field around the islands to block our powers," Leo said.

"He did more than block our powers," Val said. "He pretty much clipped our wings. Liam is dead because of what this bastard did." She looked down at the Book of Shadows. "And this says nothing that could hint at how he was able to do this."

"He isn't overly aggressive," Cole said. "He's more of a plotter. He finds other ways, indirect ways to get what he wants."

"Sounds familiar," Piper said, thinking about Belthazor.

"What's his weakness?" Phoebe asked.

"He doesn't like being crossed," Cole said. "When somebody screws up his plans, like you three did, he gets a little more aggressive. He's probably getting ready to attack you."

"That's his weakness? He gets pissed off?" Price said. "Can't you feed us anything else more useful?"

"Actually, I think we can work with that," Phoebe said. "Being pissed off might make him more aggressive, but people lose focus when they're pissed off."

"I don't know," Cole said. "When I was Belthazor, pissing me off usually made me more focused."

"I think what Phoebe means is that it makes you more careless," Piper said. "He'll charge in here without a plan other than wanting to kill us. That's every demon's mistake. We spoiled this guy's huge, evil plan. His rage won't give him time to come up with a new plan."

"Now all we have to do is come up with a vanquishing spell," Price said. "This shouldn't be too hard."

Suddenly they all heard a crashing sound come from downstairs. Phoebe looked at Price as if to blame her for this because of what she had just said. Everyone headed out of the attic with the sisters in the lead. Once they got halfway down Piper, who was at the head of the group, turned.

"We shouldn't all go down," she said. "Leo, everyone, you all should stay behind. For all we know he could have put the same energy field around the house as he did around the islands."

"That would mean your powers wouldn't work either," Cole said. "You can't go down there alone."

"Cole, don't argue," Piper said. "This is our fight."

"We can help you," Val said. Piper saw a flare of vengeance in the veteran whitelighter's eyes.

"You're still angry about Liam," Piper said.

Price caught on, but decided not to patronize the whitelighters with their grief. "Look, stay behind. If there's trouble, you'll know soon enough."

The others reluctantly complied and waited on the second floor while the three sisters continued to the ground floor.

They heard growling and Piper and Phoebe knew precisely what was in their home. One of the beasts that they had encountered on the island. Piper looked at Price.

"I blow. You throw," Piper said. "Phoebe, do what you can. Just be careful."

They got to the parlor and saw the beast. Piper thrust out her hands and the beast promptly exploded, leaving an orangish-yellow goo all over their furniture.

"Um, I think we need to be more cautious about what you blow up in the house, Piper," Phoebe said. "Febreeze only goes so far."

Piper was about to comment back when she felt a sharp pain throughout her body and then flew across the parlor, crashing into the mantle and knocking off pictures and knick knacks. Price and Phoebe turned to see a tall, thin demon with green skin, red hair and two small horns on each side of his forehead. He was wearing a vibrant blue suit with a yellow shirt beneath the jacket. He shot another bolt of electricity, but Price and Phoebe both dove in opposite directions, avoiding it. The energy bolt exploded against the mantle, causing sparks to shower down over the unconscious Piper.

Phoebe jumped up, levitated and served Oric with a roundhouse kick square in the jaw. Price standed and flimg him across the foyer with her power. He slammed into the doorjamb for the living room and fell to the floor. He attempted to hit Price with an energy ball, but he found coming right back to him. It hit him and the energy overloaded his powers. The energy surged through him until he exploded.

The others heard Oric's defeat clearly on the second floor and immediately came down. Leo saw only Phoebe and Price and became concerned.

"Piper?" he asked. Price and Phoebe then realized Piper hadn't gotten back up yet. They hurried over with Leo right behind them and the others right behind him.

She was barely conscious, and she was mumbling something when Price, Phoebe and Leo knelt next to her.

"Save the baby," she said weakly right before Leo started to heal her. He was stunned and looked at Phoebe and Price.

"Baby?"

"Leo, later," Phoebe said. "Heal her."

He snapped out of it and then continued healing Piper. He could now sense what she had meant when she mentioned a baby. He could sense the baby inside her, their child. He finished healing Piper and she rolled onto her back to see several relieved faces, but on Leo's face she also saw something else. Shock? A little. Happiness? Mostly.

"Leo, what?" she asked.

"I'm going to be a father?" he said quietly. The others looked at each other, the whitelighters all surprised.

"How did you…?"

"I sensed it. When I was healing you," he replied. His smile got even bigger, something Piper thought was impossible. "We're going to be parents."

Piper smiled, relieved by his enthusiasm. Then she replied. "We're going to be parents. You're going to be a daddy."

Piper sat up slightly and wrapped her arms around Leo's neck, and the two embraced. Everyone was safe and sound.

THE END


End file.
